G. A. Cohen on self‐ownership, property, and equality

Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 12 (3):225-251 (1998)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

G.A. Cohen has produced an influential criticism of libertarian‐ism that posits joint ownership of everything in the world other than labor, with each joint owner having a veto right over any potential use of the world. According to Cohen, in that world rationality would require that wealth be divided equally, with no differential accorded to talent, ability, or effort. A closer examination shows that Cohen's argument rests on two central errors of reasoning and does not support his egalitarian conclusions, even granting his assumption of joint ownership. That assumption was rejected by Locke, Pufendorf and other writers on property for reasons that Cohen does not rebut.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 84,292

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Self-ownership, freedom, and autonomy.George G. Brenkert - 1998 - The Journal of Ethics 2 (1):27-55.
Self‐ and world‐ownership: Rejoinder to Epstein, palmer, and Feallsanach.Justin Weinberg - 1998 - Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 12 (3):325-336.
Freedom, self‐ownership, and libertarian philosophical Diaspora. [REVIEW]Justin Weinberg - 1997 - Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 11 (3):323-344.
The value of ownership.Meir Dan-Cohen - 2001 - Journal of Political Philosophy 9 (4):404–434.
Locke and libertarian property rights: Reply to Weinberg.Am Feallsanach - 1998 - Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 12 (3):319-323.
Justice Beyond Equality.Jonathan Quong - 2010 - Social Theory and Practice 36 (2):315-340.
Property, Persons, Boundaries: The Argument from Other-Ownership.Hugh Breakey - 2011 - Social Theory and Practice 37 (2):189-210.

Analytics

Added to PP
2011-10-18

Downloads
91 (#153,649)

6 months
1 (#510,180)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

Self‐ and world‐ownership: Rejoinder to Epstein, palmer, and Feallsanach.Justin Weinberg - 1998 - Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 12 (3):325-336.
The libertarian straddle: Rejoinder to Palmer and Sciabarra.Jeffrey Friedman - 1998 - Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 12 (3):359-388.
What's not wrong with libertarianism: Reply to Friedman.Tom G. Palmer - 1998 - Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 12 (3):337-358.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Anarchy, State, and Utopia.Robert Nozick - 1974 - New York: Basic Books.
Anarchy, State, and Utopia.Robert Nozick - 1974 - Philosophy 52 (199):102-105.
Contemporary political philosophy: an introduction.Will Kymlicka - 2002 - New York: Oxford University Press.
An essay on rights.Hillel Steiner - 1994 - Oxford, UK ;: Blackwell.
Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality.G. A. Cohen - 1995 - Cambridge University Press.

View all 37 references / Add more references